Fee Increases for Hunting and Fishing Licenses Killed, for Now

The House votes down an attempt to raise fees for hunting and fishing licenses in Louisiana.

The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries wants to boost the fees for basic fishing licenses, saying the dollars are needed to offset financial gaps. More than 700,000 fishing licenses and more than 325,000 hunting licenses sold in Louisiana.

LDWF boss Jack Montoucet says fee increases would bring in about $10 million a year. But the House could not muster the 70 votes needed to pass a fee increase. The bill would bump the fishing license fee to $13.50 a year from $9.50. Hunting license fees would jump to $20 from $15. The bill does not only include the increases. It would also streamline the many options now available. There are currently 117 licensing options now. This would be trimmed to 30.

State Representative Larry Bagley of Logansport says the public is not opposing this legislation and he hopes it will come back up for a vote.